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Governing document templates and model rules

Each charity has governing documents which set out its charitable purpose, that it operates on a not-for-profit basis and how the governing body of the charity (such as its committee of management, or board) makes decisions and consults any members. These documents may have different names, depending on the charity’s structure or form.

Governing document templates are examples that charities can use when they are setting up, or considering changing structure, that they can adapt to suit their particular circumstances.

You may need to get professional advice to make sure you choose a legal structure and governing documents that are suitable for your charity.

Legal requirements for governing documents

All charities registered with the ACNC must have governing documents that meet certain legal requirements. Some of these requirements are the same for all charities registered with the ACNC. The other requirements depend on things such as:

Types of template or model governing documents

Some Commonwealth, state and territory incorporating regulators provide template or ‘model’ governing documents for charities with certain legal structures. These templates meet the legal requirements for the relevant legal structure and may be adopted and used as the governing documents for charities.

Some of the template governing documents available for charities are:

the ‘model rules’ for incorporated associations provided by state and territory incorporating regulators

the ‘model rules’ for co-operatives provided by state and territory incorporating regulators

the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) ‘template rule book’ for Indigenous corporations.

Each incorporating regulator provides guidance on how to use its template governing documents.

The Co-operatives National Law is uniform legislation gradually introduced in each state and territory to regulate co-operatives in the same way across Australia. The regulations under the Co-Operatives National Law have ‘model rules’ for co-operatives. You need to check the requirements for rules for co-operatives with the regulator in your state or territory.